ARTICLES ABOUT CABINET RANK BY DATE - PAGE 2

LUCKNOW: After a gap of almost three months, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will expand his Cabinet tomorrow, and controversial Kunda MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya is expected to get a berth. The function, which will be held at Rajbhawan, is expected to witness induction of two more ministers as there are a total of 58 ministers in the Cabinet and the upper limit is of 60 ministers, official sources said. Sources said that one of two state ministers could be elevated to Cabinet rank, and new face from Western UP could also be given place in the Cabinet as part of "damage control" after Muzaffarnagar riots.

NEW DELHI: Ashwani Kumar , who resigned as Union law minister for interfering with the CBI's coalgate investigations, has been appointed as the prime minister's special envoy with Cabinet rank . The Prime Minister has nominated Kumar "to visit for up to seven days as PM's special envoy for that period (in the rank and the privileges of a Cabinet minister) to maintain the momentum of high-level exchanges with Japan. An official letter to Kumar said the appointment was to "prepare for the upcoming visit of Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan and the Prime Minister of Japan to India.

NEW DELHI: Nearly three months after he had to resign as Union Law minister in a blaze of controversy, Ashwani Kumar has been appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as his Special Envoy to visit Japan in the rank of a Cabinet Minister. The Prime Minister has nominated Kumar "to visit for up to seven days as PM's Special Envoy for that period (in the rank and the privileges of a Cabinet Minister) to maintain the momentum of high-level exchanges with Japan.... "And to prepare for the upcoming visit of Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan and the Prime Minister of Japan to India," an official letter to Kumar said.

NEW DELHI: Many in the Congress were shocked when Ashwani Kumar was inducted into the Union Council of Ministers and later elevated to Cabinet rank. But not many are surprised now after he became controversy's favourite child, with the Opposition demanding his scalp for his alleged intervention in vetting CBI's status report in the coal allocation case. Given his panache for rubbing people the wrong way - be it with his obdurate style of functioning or almost obsessive insistence to cross every T - the 61-year-old Kumar does not have many followers or admirers within his party.

KOLKATA: Reshuffling her 18-month-old ministry in West Bengal , Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today inducted eight new faces, mostly from rural Bengal, with an eye on the coming panchayat elections in the state. Of the eight, six are sitting Trinamool Congress MLAs, while the other two are Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury and Humayun Kabir who switched over to Trinamool Congress from Congress only yesterday. The Mamata Banerjee government completed its 18 months in office yesterday.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers on Sunday reflects Congress' attempt to address regional aspirations. Electorally crucial Andhra Pradesh gets the maximum representation. Though Congress tried to strike a regional balance by inducting and elevating ministers from Punjab and Rajasthan, its logic at increasing representation of Kerala at the cost of edging out other states like Odisha and Maharashtra was curious. Andhra Pradesh, a state where Congress has been losing out over Telangana, and Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSR Congress denting its support base, found maximum representation.

NEW DELHI: With 11 ministers, Andhra Pradesh takes the cake in the reshuffle of the Union Cabinet as it overtook Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan in its strength in the government. In fact, there are not only five additions from the southern state but one minister has been elevated to Cabinet rank, among the total of 22 inductions and promotions made today. Andhra Pradesh, which has witnessed turmoil over the Telangana issue and the emergence of YSR Congress, now also boasts of having the largest number of Cabinet ministers -- four.

CHANDIGARH: Prakash Singh Badal will take oath as Chief Minister of Punjab tomorrow for a record fifth time at the head of an 18-member cabinet, including his son Sukhbir who will continue as his deputy for the second successive term of the SAD-BJP alliance ministry. The state, with a 117-member assembly, can have under the Constitution, an 18-member cabinet, including the Chief Minister. 85-year-old Badal senior had headed two full five-year terms from 1997 and 2007.

JAIPUR: Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has inducted six ministers, dropped five and promoted minister of state for information and public relations Ashok Bairwa to cabinet rank in a cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday. The reshuffle had to be undertaken after controversies, including alleged role of a minister in kidnapping and suspected murder of health worker Bhanwari Devi. Governor Shivraj Patil administered the oath of office and secrecy to ministers at a ceremony in Raj Bhawan.

NEW DELHI: Apparently upset over not being elevated to Cabinet rank, Srikant Jena today kept everyone guessing as to whether he would assume charge as Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation with Independent charge. Jena remained at his home but incommunicado, with his staff saying he was scheduled to go to Odisha either this evening or tomorrow morning in connection with the rally of Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi in the state.